53

CHAPTER-II
.
THE SANGAM AGE

a. Saiigam Period:

The focus of this Chapter deals with Tiruttani

during the Sangam period. The Historic period of Tiruttani region continues

from the Pre Historic period a few centuries before and after the early

Christian era. So far, it is not possible to find any inscriptions from this

region to know the history of this area during Sangam Age-an age during
.
which ancient Tamil literature flourished. There is no direct reference in

Sangam literature to this region. Further, it deals with the probability of the

Satavahana's rule over Tiruttani for some period.

Ancient Tamil Country was divided into thirteen 'Nadus", out

of which '~ruva Naqu and beyond north was 'Aruva-Vadathalai Nadu' or

North Aruva, which correspond to the 'Tonqaimanqalam'. The two

provinces were together known as 'Mavilaii.gai' or the great Lanka2 _

Kanchipuram was the capital of the Mavilangai. The whole of this province
l·.
was inhabited by the 'Aruvalar'a nomadic tribe, who were also called

'Kurumbar'. One of the Sangam literacy works 'PattjQappalai' mentions the

inhabitants of the region as 'Aruvalar' 3.

Karikaal Chola first settled this nomadic tribe and their region

was divided into twenty-four 'Kott.ams' which includes seventy nine

 54
4
'Na4us' . Many of the in land towns of the 'Aru-Var-ni' mentioned by

Ptolemy may be identified with the capitals of_.......,_

'Kottam' .. - divided by Karikaal

·-
Chola. 'Kunrappattinam' is referred to as one of the 'Kottams' in the
--·· ~--- .....__ ... -

--
province. It is identified with the 'Kandi-Qatna' referred by Ptolemy5 . The

name of the Kottam; 'Kumappa~tjnam' is found as 'Kug~avatana-kott_am'

without any change in all Pallava, Cho!~ and Vijayanagar inscriptions in

Tiruttani region 6 .

The name of the Kottam of this region 'Kunravatana-kottam' is

--~·-- --=·-~----------~--

derived from the word ~Kuw.u'- meaning hillock, the abode of Lord

Muruga. This proves the importance of Tiruttani region even from the

Saiigam Age.
-
.'Oviyar; a family of the 'Aruvalar' tribe ruled 'Eyil Pattinam'
..
7
(Kitiichipuram region) about the Middle of the 2nd Century A.D. While

referring to the boundaries of the ancient Tamil Country, the Sangam

Classics refer Venka~m as its northern boundary. The traditional

conception is that the Tamil Country extended from Venka~am in the north

to Ka~yakumari in the south

8
.

The people beyond Venka~am are called 'Va~ugar', who spoke

'an alien-Tongue" Telugu 9 .It is generally described as the country where

10
languages change ('Mo!j-Peyar-Deyam') . The land was 'Erumai Naqu'
11
meaning Buffalo Country • Erumai 'is referred to in one of the Sangam
 55
12
poems as a leader of the Vaqugar . Hence the neighbourhood of Tamil

Country on the north is stated to be the Vaqugar. The spoken language of

Vadugar is stated to be 'Kalla-nin-moli' i.e. uncultivated long form of

~

13
speech •

The Sangam Classical works refer to 'Pulli' as the Lord of

i
14
Venkat_am region • Pulli or Pulindas are one of the rulers with s'ome sort

autonomy on the southern boundaries of Asoka, mentioned in his 13th Rock

15
Edicts . In the 'Aitareya Brahmana (VII, 92, 18), Pulindas are mentioned

as 'Dasyu' or non-Aryan tribes living on the border of the land occupied by

the Aryans in India. The V aquga remained encamped in a troupe with their

strong bows and well-aimed arrows and happy with liquor they had drunk

Pu~~i is said to have invited many a

16
and roaring in that intoxication .

visitors to his court, offered drinks and made liberal gifts to them. Pu!li is a

contemporary of the Saiigam poet 'Mamulanar 17 . These verses make it clear

that Pu!!i ruled over the territory in and around Venka~a hills
18
•

MaJ!l-Pulam (Mazhava Country) was vanquished by Pu!~i, the

"great philanthropist". Malaiyaman ruled over the region of modem Vellore~

Tiruvannamalai and Vihtpuram Districts and TirukkoilUr as capital on the

banks of the River Pennai.

...... The term 'Mazhavar'in Tamil means warriors

and so it is not known whether the term 'Mazhavar'in this place refers to the
19
warriors who were enemies of Pulli or to a definite clan called Mazhavar .
 56

It proves that PuW had conquered the regions lying between Tirupati and

Mazhapulam 20 . According to Sivaraja PilJ.ai a historian, Pulicat near Arcot

21
is the territory from where Pu!!i ruled . Tiruttani lies in the area between

the two regions. Hence it can concluded that Tiruttani was under the control

of PuHi during Sangam Age.

Literary references make it clear that 'Tiraiyar' was identified

22
with the 'Tonqaiyar Kilar Makanar-Kannanar

Perumpanarruppacjai a Sangam Classic speaks of 'Palvel Tiraiyan' . This

Tiraiyan held his court in Kanchipuram. His full name is 'Ilan Tiraiyan

Ton<Jaiman', the junior of the Tongaiyar tribe. If it is true the Tiraiyan of the

Venkaqa hills may be called as the Tiraiyan, the senior, with in one

generation, the Tiraiyar or Tonqaiyar must have moved from the Venkata

hills to Kafichipuram.

In the Puranas a Tonqaiman chief of the Cho!~ family who is

said to have been associated with Venka!am. Tonqaiman belongs to

Tongaiyar tribe, and the land inhabited by this Tongaiyar was called

Tondaimandalam
.... .. . One of the kings of the tribe called
or Tondai-Nadu..
Tiraiyan, who ruled over the region of K~u1chipuram is claimed to have beem

a descendant of the God Vishnu.

The families of Tiraiyar tribes lived in Tonqaimand~alam, the

modem Districts of Kaiichipuram, Tiruvallur, Vellore, vq~ppuram and

 57

.
Tiruvannamalai. It is understood that Tondaiman chieftain of Kanchi ruled

over Tonqaimangalam of which Tiruttani was a part. It is therefore possible

Thiraiyan ruling from 'Pavvathiri' earlier ruled over Tiruttani region also.

He was followed by 'I!an-Tiraiyan' ruling from Kanchi, later on had

Venka~am in his territory.

It can be concluded that Tiruttani was under the rule of the

PuJ!is, Tiriyar and Tonqaiyar during the Satigam age, in the early Centuries

of the Christian era.

b.The Satavahana Period:

In the Deccan, the Mauryan Empire was followed by the

Satavahanas or the Andhras, who ruled for four and half centuries from

about 230 B.C. 23 . On the basis of the informations in the Sangam literature~

it is clear that the area around Venka~am hills and south of it was inhabited

by 'Aruvalar' (Tamil speaking people). The region was ruled over by Tamil

rulers or Chieftains. It is a question how and when the non-Tamil speaking

people e~pecially ~elugu speaking people of the north penetrated towards

the south. The events discussed earlier may have to be placed in the period

prior to the appearance of the satavahanas on the scene.

The inhabitants of the northern part of the Madras State and the

adjoining region call themselves 'Andhras'. The territory of the Andhras i~

24
called 'Andhrapatha' in an inscription of 3rd Century A.D . It is believed
 58
that the Andhra tribes originally lived in the Vindhyan region, that it was

pushed gradually to the south in the later times. The Andhras are mentioned

together with other tribes living on the borders of the land occupied by the
- 25
Aryans .
-
The thirteenth Rock Edict of Asoka mentions the Andhras

along with Pulindas and other tribes as border people of the Maurya Empire
26
with some sort of autonomy . Megasthenes opines that the Andhras were a
27 - - -
separate race . No doubt under the Satavahanas the Andhra Empire

extended from sea to sea and from the central provinces in the north to
28
CU<!4alore in the south . The Srirangam plates refer that the Tilinga

country or the Andhra country is bounded in the north by Kanya kubja, on

the west by Maharastra, on the east by Kalinga and on the south by

Pan~yaka
29
.

Silappathikaram mentions that Cheran Che~va~ paid a

friendly visit to the king of Magadha. It gives the name of the Maghadha

king as "NliJ.1:Uvar Kannar or the hundred Kamas" and this expression was

long a puzzle until it struck that it was a translation of the Sanskrit title 'Sata

Kamin'. Several kings of the Andhra dynasty bore the epithet Satakami•

and coins and inscriptions of these kings have been found, in which the Pali

form of the word 'Sata kami' occurs. The Tam~. rendering of the name into

'Hundred Karanas' in a contemporary poem leaves no doubt of the fact th£1:

 59

the name is correctly, Sata Kamin, made up of the word~ (hundred) and

Karana (ears), the epithet evidently meaning a king who employed one

hundred spies, or had one hundred source of information 30 .

The Nasik inscription of Queen mother Goutami Balasri, refers

31
about Goutamai Putra Sri Satakami exploits of the Dec.can • He took up

the title of 'Tri-Samudra-toya-pita-Vahana', which means one whose drank

the waters of three seas in the east, west and south viz. The Bay of Bengal,

the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean 32• The activities of Satakami referred

to above found in the Nasik cave inscription, that the steed of the king drank

the waters of the three seas identified above, an Expedition of the king up to

the Indian Ocean should be admitted. If it is admitted, he should be

considered to have passed through the TamiJ. country to reach the Indian

Ocean.

The Satavahana rule in Tondaimadalam was evidenced by the

- -
availability of ship-coins in the region between Pe~J):ar and Palar, in

profusion. R. Gopalan a historian is of the view that the Satavahanas

continued to rule Tonqaiman~alam up to the rise of Karikala Cho!~ who

33
conquered the area from them .

The influence of Satavahana rule in the south is known from

the study of a coin of Vasishthi-Putra Satakami . Scholars who have made

MUL

Ill IIIII 111111111 IIIII

PhD3303
~Ill/
 60
recent studies of the bilingual silver coins of the Satavahana ruler, differed

with regard to the language used in the legend on the reverse.

D.C. Sircar, a prominent historian, after reading one of the

silver coins pointed out that the language is Telugu and Dravidian Prakrit 34 •

According toR. Nagaswamy, then Director of Archaeology, Govt. of Tamil

Nadu, it is in early Tamil. On the basis of text of the coins, R. Panneer

Selvam has drawn the attention and interpreted the text with the Sutra of
35
'Jolkappiyam' • R. Nagaswamy ascribed the bilingual coins, which were

used by the Satavahana ruler Satakami for the use of the Tami.l. knowing

section in the Hyd~rabad region. Another view on the issue of these coins is

that they wanted to show their Dravidian character and it was meant for

circulation in the northern-most areas of their kingdom, i.e. in Nasik and

. 36
Poona regiOn .

If the legend of the bilingual coins is accepted as Tami!) then it

is possible that the coins were issued for the subjects on the borderland, i.e.

The S"atavahana kings used to meet the needs of the subjects of the Tamil_

speaking area under their control. Such Tami.J. knowing people lived in

Tiruttani region as pointed out in the chapter under the Sangam period. The

latest time limit is set about the 3rd Century A.D. for these works in the

region south of Venka~am.

 61

If the above are admitted, it is probable that at least up to

Tiruttani region it was under the control of the satavahanas for some time.

c. The Kalabhras Interregnum:

In the history of Tamil,. country, the period between 3rd century

A.D. and 61h Century A.D. is considered to be the Dark Age, i.e. the period
37
of Kalabhras interregnum • It is not yet known who the Kalabhras were.

However, it cannot be disputed that the Kalabhras ruled some pockets of

Tami~. country, following the Sangam Age.

According to K.P .Aravanan, the Kalabhras period in the history

ofTamiJ. Country was a golden period for the Jains 38 . The statement may be

quite appropriate as far as the Jainism of Tiruttani region is concerned. A

Jain temple (Plate No.28) at Arm:ikulam (the village is referred in the

Parantaka-I copper plate of 'Tiruttani and Velanjeri Copper plates'), and a

stone sculpture of Mahavira, at Thanigaippoftlr, close to Tiruttani is an

evidence for the fact.

The tribes of the Venkatam hills moved towards the south,

where they assumed the name 'Kali-arasa' or 'Kalva'.

t ..
On the basis of the

sources it is surmised that they were the descendants of the Ka!var chiefs.

A division of Kalabhras entered Tondainadu, and marched

along the Palar basin. Their domination over the Tond_aina~u was ended by

the Pallava king Sivaskanda Varman temporarily by about the middle of the
 62
3rd Century A.D. The Kalabhras
. occupation of Kafichi and Tondainadu
. . does

not appear to have been as decisive and complete, as it was in Panqina~u

and Cho~_an-aqu. There had been frequent skirmishes between the Pallavas

and the Ka!abhras in and around IGu'ichipuram. Kanchipuram had always

been changing hands and finally Simha Vishnu wrested it from the
- th
Ka!abhras in the later half of the 6 Century A.D. The Kalabhras could no

. .
more hold any prominent position in Tondaimandalam. The Pallavas had
39
finally established themselves there .

It is very difficult to establish any connection of the later

Ka!abhras with Tiruttani region. However Tonqaimanqalam was under the

,
sway of the Ka~abhras. So it is clear that this region also came under their
;

control.

After this analysis of Sangam Age of Tiruttani, the study

leads to Medival period in the following chapter.

 63

NOTES

I.Jo1kappiyam - Chollathikaram; Sutram, 400.

2. Ciru-Panarrup-Paqai- II; 119-120.

3. Rasamanickanar, M. - Pattuppa~ Araichchi, (Tamil) p.291.

-
4 . Tondaimandala-Pattayam.
..
5. Me Crindle's Ptolemy- p. 57. ffand 183 ff.

6. Nagaswamy, R. - Velanjeri and Tiruttani Copper plates.

'11,~
-A.R.E. 1905 and 1942-'03.
7. Kanakasabai, V. -lamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, 1966; p. 29.

8. "VaqaVengactam T~nKumari Azhidai, TamiLkli!U Nalulaku"- Tolkappiyam

."Negiyon Ku!!t:amum Toqiyol Pauvamum,

TamiJ. varamparuttu Tagpuq._al Nanna!t}l" - Silappatikaram.

9. agaminuru -211;7-8.
""'
-
10. Ibid

11. Ibid
- 213.

-252.
..,

-
12. Ibid -253&115.

-
13. Ibid

14. l!2iQ_
- 107.

- 393; 18-20.

15. Ramachandran, C.E.- Ahananu!"ll in its Historical Settings, p. 53.

16 Agamtnuru - 295; 11.-17.

-
17. Ibid - 294, 3 10 & 358.

18. Arunachalam, M . - Kalabhras in the Pan~iya country, 1979; p. 27.

19. Ramachandran, C.E.- QP. cit. p. 39.

20. Sampath, M.D. - Chittoor Through the Ages, p. 10.

 64
21. Doraiswamy, M.A. -The Surnames of the Caiikam Age Literary & Tribal, p.l74.

22. ~gananuru - 85.

23. Nilakanta Sasthiri,K.A.-AHistory of South India,(Oxford),1955, p. 92.

24. Majumdar, R.C. - The History and Culture of the Indian People, Vol.II, (1951),

P.193.

25. Aitareya Brahmana - VII, 92, 18.

26. Gopalachari, K.- Early History of The Andhra Country, (Madras), 1976, p.1.

-
27.I.A. -Vol. VI; p.339.

28. Gopalachari, K. - op. cit. p. 3. (Coins of Pulamavi-11 bearing the device of ship
~

with masts are found on the Coromanda1 Coast as far as Cuddalure).

29.Ep. lndi. Vol. VI; 339.

30.Kanakasabai,. V. - op. cit. p. 7.

31.Ep. Indi. Vol. VIII; pp. 19-62

32.JMU Vol. XXXVIII; parts-l-2, July 1966 & January 1967, p.l60.

33.Gopalan, R. - .tJistory of the Pallavas ofKanchi, 1928; p. 26.

34. Ep. Indi. Vol. XXXV; pp. 249-52.

35.)ndo-Iranian Journal, Vol. XI, No.4, 1969; pp.281-288.

36. f:p. lndi. Vol. XXXV; p. 251.

37.Kasinathan, Natana.-'Kalabhras Identified'-Article in South Indian Studies, 1979;

pp.l81-182.

38.Aravanan, K.P. -Jain Contribution ofTamil Grammar, 1971 ; p. 61'.

39. Arunachalam, M. - op. cit. pp. 63-64.

 MAP'No.7 SOUTH INDIA- MEDIVALPEIUOD
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